The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) and the Dangote Refinery have sharply disagreed over the pricing of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) produced from the Refinery.
The national oil company had said yesterday that the Refinery was selling petrol at N898 a litre, but Dangote Refinery has denied the report, saying the price for its product had not yet been set.
NNPCL spokesman Femi Soneye told newsmen that the company had so far loaded 70 trucks of the product from the refinery at the above price.
He urged the public to disregard the claims and await an official announcement from the Technical Sub-Committee on Naira-based crude sales, set to begin operations on October 1, 2024.
Chiejina highlighted that the refinery has sold its products in dollars, offering substantial savings compared to current import prices.
He assured Nigerians that the refinery’s operations would ensure petrol availability across all local government areas, effectively combating fuel scarcity in the country.
Earlier, the NNPCL spokesman Soneye said:
“We successfully loaded PMS today at the Dangote Refinery. The report stating that we purchased it at N1,300 per litre is false. For this initial loading, the price was N898 per litre. In response to your inquiry, I can also confirm that we will receive 16.8 million litres. As of now, we have loaded over 70 trucks,” Soneye told newsmen.
However, reacting to the situation, Henry Adigun said that the one-off-taker policy leaves everything in doubt about the sincerity of the entire process.
Adigun said every transaction here is shrouded in secrecy, including pricing, stating that the lack of policy harmonisation is in total breach of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA), which demands a free market and free pricing for products.